Last week, I started my new job at the Center For Education Reform. Tuesdays and Fridays after school, I go to the office in Bethesda and work in the evenings, training and preparing to start full time June 20th. So far, my new coworkers have been welcoming and I'm excited to get started full time. It's going to be an odd adjustment to work in an office after two years in the classroom. I was struck by how quiet it was compared to a day at school! And there's plenty of small perks that have me excited - the least of which is Georgetown Cupcakes directly across the street from the office!
In Gwynn Park news, the seniors had their graduation this week. The picture is of them waiting nervously in the tunnel before heading out onto the floor for the ceremony. Graduation was bittersweet. I have very strong personal relationships with a lot of the seniors and I was thrilled to see most of them in their caps and gowns. In the United States, less than half of black males graduate high school. Some of my favorite students didn't make it, and despite the joy of the day, my mind was dwelling on those few students. I'm still struggling with the guilt of leaving the classroom, especially in moments like that. I think I'm going to try and tutor or something next year so I stay in touch with my reasons for working in Ed Reform.
Finally, I got a cool taste of life in education politics last week. It's an experience I hope to repeat many times over in my time in DC. Congressman Steny Hoyer happens to represent the district in MD where my high school is located, and he wanted to meet with the TFA teachers who work in the schools there. Seven of us responded to the invite, and we met with him at a local high school to tell him about our experience in TFA, our work in the classrooms, and what our future plans are. I didn't know any of the other corps members there besides my roommate, Meredith, but it was a great group and we really did a good job representing TFA and Mr. Hoyer was so impressed with us! We followed him to a session at Bowie State University. He was on a panel with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, the Lt. Governor of the State, the national teacher of the year, the Md. State teacher of the year, and a number of local university presidents and superintendents. The point of the panel was to promote teach.gov, a new initiative from the dept of education to encourage careers in teaching. Hoyer saw Meredith and I there and called us out by name in front of the whole auditorium! He made us stand up and praised us for being "on fire for education" and told the entire assembly to speak to us afterward if they wanted to meet people that really understand why teaching is the most important job, etc. It was a really cool moment and I was like "wow, Arne Duncan just heard my name!" Silly, but still fun. The pic below is of us with the congressman. I'm in green!
Finally, a big shout out and thank you to my mom, who visited me for the holiday weekend and helped me shop till I dropped and eat till I burst! I love you and can't wait to see you soon.
Peace and Love.
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